Iran unrest
July 21, 2009
Despite warnings by the authorities, several hundred demonstrators took to the streets in Tehran shouting slogans such as "Down with the dictator!" and "Ahmadinejad, resign, resign!"
According to eyewitness reports, several dozen protesters were detained and the police reportedly used violence to crack down on the demonstrators.
The new clashes come four days after similar confrontations when former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani raised doubts about the election results and said Iran was in crisis.
The opposition, led by defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, accuses the leadership in Tehran of widespread vote rigging and is calling for a new poll or a referendum on the validity of the June elections. That presidential poll saw hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad return to power.
Demonstrations in the aftermath of the elections led to widespread unrest. At least 21 people have died in the post-election violence.
Calls for EU sanctions
In Germany, the head of the influential Institute for International and Security Affairs, Volker Perthes, has called for EU sanctions against members of Iran's elite who are responsible for suppressing the protests.
"Such sanctions can help if they target a limited number of people. For instance, we don't have to grant a visa to the head of a militia group or to an editor-in-chief who kicks out journalists if they write the truth," Perthes said in an interview with the newspaper Tagesspiegel on Tuesday.
"If the EU puts together a list of people responsible for the violence and declares them personae non grata, then this is a strong sign of solidarity with the victims of the repression," he continued.
Perthes warned, however, against excessive use of sanctions and said it was important to maintain relations with politicians and experts in Iran in order to be able to exert some influence on the many issues of contention within the country - such as Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
ai/Reuters/dpa
Editor: Susan Houlton